08 January 2013

Could these two children be the son & daughter of Thomas & Elsie Leaning of Nelson? Possibly son Willis Robert Steven born 1910 and daughter Esther Mary Ellen born 1912?

I found Elsie Jane Leaning living at the above address in 1946 in the NZ Electoral Rolls, she was a widow with a son Eric Leslie living in the same house.

In the NZ BMDs I found Elsie Jane Way married to Thomas Steven Joseph Leaning in 1907. They had three children before the online cut off date of 1913 but from another family tree I found it seems they had at least another 8 children after 1913. So these two could be any of them really although just two of them suggests there were only two at that stage, the eldest son, Charlie Percy Thomas had died aged 1 yr in 1910.

From what I can gather Thomas & Elsie were living in Nelson after their marriage & probably up until Thomas died in 1937, she must have moved to Westport soon after.

If anyone knows anything about or is connected to theLEANINGfamily please do contact me, I would love to pass this photo onto a family member. Contact by email is preferable but if you are going to leave a comment please don’t forget to include your email address.

1 comment:

I am distantly related to the Tyrees through my great-aunt Irene Norman (she was the niece of Alfred, Frederick and William). There's surprisingly little about them given their achievements not only in photography but other fields. But surely they must be considered pioneers in the field. I'm always interested in seeing anything they've photographed.